CAES Newswire

 College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences UGA Cooperative Extension
Menu
Published on 05/30/18

Scout for insects in lima and snap beans and Southern peas

By Andrew Sawyer

Georgia vegetable farmers should scout for insects in young lima beans and snap beans now.

Caterpillars, stinkbugs and thrips are among the insects that could pose a threat as these beans start to bloom. Although seeing a few thrips in a bloom shouldn't worry you, finding many more could signal potentially significant damage.

The threshold for thrips per bloom is 10, according to University of Georgia Cooperative Extension entomologist Stormy Sparks. If there are 10 or more thrips in a bloom, the thrips should be knocked back with an insecticide.

High thrip populations can stunt plants, delay maturity and reduce yields.

Cowpea curculio is still the biggest, most troublesome pest for Southern pea farmers. Jenna Kicklighter, Colquitt County Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension agent, previously worked with UGA vegetable entomologist David Riley on measures to control the pest.

“As far as I know, nothing has changed as far as methods for controlling the weevils. We still only have pyrethroids labeled for control,” Kicklighter said. “Also, the last time I spoke with Dr. Riley, Karate insecticide seemed to have greater efficacy than the other pyrethroids. If the curculio population is high enough, they can knock blooms off, so be on the lookout for that.”

The first spray for cowpea curculio should be initiated at first bloom and sprayed at a short interval, every three days or so.

UGA Extension vegetable specialist Tim Coolong says boron foliar sprays can help with flowering and pollination in plants. Beans are self-pollinating, and the pollination window is very short.

Expect to see significant loss if the weather is poor during pollination. Boron application at flowering may not make a huge difference in yield if the pollination conditions are not ideal.

For timely information about agriculture in Georgia, visit the Wilcox County Ag blog at site.extension.uga.edu/wilcoxcoag/.

Authors:
Andrew Sawyer
Experts/Sources:
Alton "Stormy" Sparks
Timothy Coolong
Cowpea curculio is still the biggest, most troublesome pest for Southern pea farmers.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
Download Image
Combining data collection and analysis with plant pathology, precision agriculture and robotics, the UGA team will build a photographic library of the foliar symptoms caused by onion diseases and other physiological disorders, feed them into the AI software, and use machine learning to identify the diseases based on pattern and color recognition from the images. CAES News
UGA uses AI, robotics to improve Georgia’s Vidalia sweet onion crop 10/23/24 Jordan Powers
A multidisciplinary team of UGA researchers aims to enhance the competitiveness of Vidalia onion growers in Georgia by providing them with the ability to confidently detect onion diseases early, enabling them to make management decisions on their crop at a critical time. These abilities, researchers say, should result in increased yield and quality of marketable onions and an overall increase in efficiency and productivity.
heavily infestedToH web CAES News
CAES combats invasive spotted lanternfly threatening U.S. farms and vineyards 09/24/24 Jordan Powers
The spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula), an invasive insect pest that first arrived in Pennsylvania in 2014 and has since spread to 16 additional states in the Eastern U.S., has state governments urging residents to be on the lookout and to use caution when moving firewood. The insect’s preference for feeding on the tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima) — another invasive species — has led to significant pest reservoirs, affecting vineyards and other agricultural sectors, including hardwoods and other ornamental and fruiting trees.
SilverleafWhitefly CAES News
CAES researchers secure $4 million to tackle silverleaf whitefly problem 01/11/24 Emily Cabrera
A multidisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences recently renewed a $4 million contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service to build upon their previous work to develop targeted interventions to mitigate the impact of silverleaf whiteflies on vegetable production in the Southeast. UGA entomologist Allen Moore leads the research team in collaboration with USDA ARS in Charleston, South Carolina.
Fig1 Cucurbit anthracnose web CAES News
CAES leads effort to tackle emerging threat to watermelon, cucumber production 12/07/23 Jordan Powers
Seven East Coast states harvested nearly 102,000 acres of watermelon and cucumber in 2019 and 2020, representing more than 62% ($410 million) and 45% ($180 million) of the U.S. production of the two crops, respectively. Growers of cucurbits — which include melons, pumpkin, squash and cucumbers — face numerous challenges in production, leading to decreased profitability and less produce on grocery shelves.
Image submitted by Melissa Mitchum showing SCN impact in field and under microscope. CAES News
CAES researchers spearhead development of new soybean cyst nematode-resistant cultivars 12/01/23
Plant-parasitic nematodes cause billions of dollars in annual yield losses and represent a major impediment to meeting the challenge of feeding an ever-growing global population. One plant-parasitic nematode, the soybean cyst nematode, has been a long-standing focus of research and innovation in the Melissa G. Mitchum Lab at the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Orange spores emerge from southern rust pustules on a corn leaf. The fungal spores associated with this disease can be carried long distances on wind currents from surrounding states. (Submitted photo) CAES News
As corn rust blows into south Georgia, producers should be on the lookout 06/26/23 Maria M. Lameiras
The first cases of southern corn rust for the 2023 growing season were discovered on Tuesday, June 20 and Wednesday June 21 in Clinch and Grady Counties , along the Georgia-Florida line. University of Georgia Extension experts are encouraging producers to be diligent in scouting for the fast-spreading disease among their corn crops.